14d • General discussion
The Farmer’s Horse
In my years of teaching Philosophical Daoism, there is one parable that my students consistently remark on as the most helpful. This came from a collection of writings known as the Huainanzi (18.7) from the 2nd century BCE and paraphrased here:
A farmer's horse escapes, and his neighbors come to console him at this misfortune, to which the farmer responds, "We'll see." The horse returns with several wild horses, and the neighbors come to celebrate his good fortune, but again, the farmer says, "We'll see." Then, the farmer's son breaks his leg while trying to tame one of the wild horses; again, the neighbors come to console him at this misfortune, but the farmer maintains his stance and says, “We’ll see.” Later, when conscription officers come to the village to draft young men into the army, the farmer’s son is spared due to his broken leg, an event the neighbors now deem fortunate. Yet again, the farmer says, “We’ll see.”
The Daoists illustrate the distinction between an event and the value we judge it to have. The neighbors judge each of these events (the horse’s escape, the horse’s return with more horses, and the son’s leg breaking) one way, and then the judgment is reversed over time. Judging an event as unfortunate leads to negative emotional reactions, and judging an event as fortunate leads to elevated emotional reactions. On the other hand, the farmer maintains a more tranquil emotional equilibrium by not adding a judgment to the event but instead taking it as it is.
Next time you get upset about a situation, try telling yourself, “We’ll see,” and then paying attention to how things unfold. You may be upset over something that transforms into something very different from your initial judgment.
Shakespeare made a similar observation when he wrote: “There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” (Hamlet, Act II, Scene 2)
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The Farmer’s Horse
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The Way of Kinship is a philosophy that seeks to heal the wound of division and restore wholeness to the human spirit.
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